


“I don’t want to talk about it.”

by jjjeeessssss



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Anxious Yamaguchi Tadashi, Crying, Crying Yamaguchi Tadashi, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:53:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26706286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjjeeessssss/pseuds/jjjeeessssss
Summary: Yamaguchi Tadashi is having some issues at home that he doesn’t want to talk about. But then it causes him to miss school and volleyball practice, creating concern in those around him.And he is very adamant about not wanting to talk about it.**there are no spoilers to the manga or anime!! :)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 78





	“I don’t want to talk about it.”

**Author's Note:**

> **just a warning that there are mentions of divorce in this story and it’s a big plot point!

Tadashi Yamaguchi didn’t wake up to the beeping of his alarm clock, he woke up to the buzzing of his phone. He groaned and lifted his head from his pillow, peering over at the little table beside his bed. Someone was trying to call him.

He reached his hand out lazily and took his phone from the charger. Rolling onto his back, he looked at the contact taking up the screen.

_Tsukki :)_

Yamaguchi bunched up his lips nervously. When the buzzing subsided and the “answer call” screen went away, he watched text messages fill up his screen. All from the same contact.

_Where are you?_

_Practice is starting soon. Hello??_

_Did you see my messages from yesterday?_

_Don’t be annoying, answer me._

He read the four messages numerous times, hoping he could think of what to say if he kept reading them. When nothing came to him, Yamaguchi erased the notifications. _I’ll talk to him later._ He knew he wouldn’t.

“Tadashi!”, he heard from the kitchen. It was his mom. “Are you awake?”

Yamaguchi groaned again and got to his feet, shutting off his alarm clock so it didn’t go off later. He quickly grabbed his school uniform and ran into the shower before his mother came upstairs to see if he was awake. He didn’t really want to see her, as horrible as that sounded. When he got out, he saw more messages on his phone. But they were from different contacts this time.

Sawamura Daichi

_Hey, practice started. You coming?_

Sugawara Kōshi

_Hi Yamaguchi! We’re all wondering where you are! Hope you’re feeling okay!_

Hinata Shōyō

_Yamaguchi! Did you sleep in? Practice started!!!_

There were more, but he ignored them. He had to finish getting ready then start getting to school. He wouldn't go to practice, but he’d walk around while waiting for class to start because he didn’t want to stay in his house. After brushing his teeth and getting his things together as fast as he could, he grabbed his lunch and kissed his mother goodbye. She didn’t even get to ask if he wanted breakfast. He just left. He wasn’t hungry anyway. And if anything, he’d eat the fruit in his lunch for breakfast. He’d figure it out.

His walk to school was quiet, although the thoughts in his head were screaming. Then he remembered the text messages from his team. Maybe now would be a good time to answer them because nobody could respond back. They were still in practice.

He took his phone from his pocket slowly and opened his messages. The first one he would answer would be from Tsukki because he’d been waiting the longest for an answer. Plus, he didn’t answer his few messages from the day before.

_Hi! I overslept, sorry :( I can’t make it to practice again but I guess you already know that…but I’ll see you in class Tsukki!!! :)_

Despite the happy ambiance from his message, he didn’t feel it at all. But Tsukki wouldn’t notice much of a difference because he’d probably be mad for the absence of Yamaguchi again. There was a reason for it, though, he just didn’t want to talk about it. Besides, his parents told him to keep it quiet to begin with so nobody spread it around or worried.

When he made it to the entrance, there was still thirty minutes before class was supposed to start. Might as well pass the time in some way so he began walking around the perimeter of the school. It was better than just sitting outside waiting for the first bell.

At the fifteen minute mark, he knew the volleyball team was released from practice so he started walking up to his classroom. He didn’t want to have to make up another excuse as to why he wasn’t at morning practice again. It was embarrassing, but he’d be there tomorrow! Maybe. It depended on how the night went. If he was up listening to his parents fighting over the phone again and then having to help pack his father's belongings into boxes all night, he wouldn’t get the sleep he needed for morning practice. And then he’d have to skip out on practice again. And then the team would be disappointed with him again.

No, it’d be fine. That wouldn’t happen again.

He went up to class and took his seat after finding a few other students already present. He stared down at his phone, trying to force his fatigue away while double checking if there were any messages from his team he missed. There wasn’t, but he was okay with that. He didn’t really have the energy to answer anybody. But he knew that he’d have to face Tsukishima soon, and he would be pissed at him.

Yamaguchi knew that Tsukishima had arrived to class when a shadow appeared over the former. He looked up slowly, saw a torso in front of him, and then looked up completely, meeting Tsuiksihima’s eyes. “Why weren’t you at practice again?”

Yamaguchi tried not to look nervous. “I…Didn’t you get my text?”

“Didn’t you get my _four_ from this morning? And my other seven last night? And then my–?”

“Okay, I get it! I’m sorry, I’ll try to be there tomorrow morning.”

“What about after school?”

Yamaguchi gulped. “I…I don’t know, my mom might need help at home tonight with–“ He stopped himself. He wasn’t really supposed to talk about it.

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. “Well?”

Yamaguchi shrugged, looking back down at his phone. It wasn’t even on anymore, the screen had locked. “Just stuff around the house.”

“You said that yesterday.”

“I know, but–“

“Whatever, just tell Sawamura if you’re not going to be there because I don’t feel like covering for you again.”

He bunched up his lips. “Sorry, Tsukki.”

Tsukishima was silent as he went to his seat. Yamaguchi didn’t pick up his head from his phone. Instead, he opened up messages again and started to text his mother.

_I can’t miss practice again so I won’t be home till late. Sorry._

Then the teacher stood in the front of the class so he put his phone away quickly.

~

Yamaguchi barely remembered class. All he remembered was when lunch started because he felt somebody shake him on the shoulder. His eyes opened slowly. “Hm?”

“You feel asleep.” Of course it was Tsukishima. “It’s time for lunch, let’s eat, I’m hungry.”

Yamaguchi slowly rose his head and rubbed his eyes. “How long was I asleep?”

“Most of class.” He sat in the empty desk beside Yamaguchi’s. “You’ve been falling asleep in class a lot lately.”

“It’s weird, right? I’ve never had problems with falling asleep. I don’t know why I can’t stay awake.”

The two started getting their lunches ready and then Tsukki asked, “Are you getting enough sleep? Because you need energy for practice…if you’re even going.”

“Hey! I _am_ going! You can count on it! I just texted my mom before class started that I can’t miss another practice. And I don’t care what she says, I’m going.”

Tsukishima shrugged. “Just don’t be stupid.”

Yamaguchi gulped and calmed himself down. He didn’t mean to get so loud. “Sorry, Tsukki.” He looked down at his lunch, but didn’t feel any hunger within himself. He hasn’t been very hungry lately, no matter what time of day it was. He tried to force himself to take a few bites and felt bad when he could barely get them down. The lunches his mom packed for him were always delicious and they made him excited, but now…anything to do with either of his parents gave him anxiety. And it usually took a while to go away.

When Yamaguchi started packing up his lunch, Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. “You barely ate.”

Yamaguchi shrugged. “I’m not very hungry…”

Tsukishima took another bite from his own food. “Whatever, just remember to eat before practice.” He eyed his friend and he sank under the look.

~

When it was time for practice, Yamaguchi caught himself trying to talk himself out of checking his phone multiple times on the way to the gym with Tsukishima. He knew that if he kept checking for any messages, Tsukki would ask about it and he didn’t want to talk about it. So he only checked it a few times.

The first time there was a message from his mother. He had meant to answer it during lunch, but completely forgot about it.

_I really need help with getting your father’s things together though…Be home as soon as you can and have fun with your team. Be careful, don’t strain yourself because I need your help with moving things around._

“Who is that?”, Tsukishima asked without looking away from the path.

“My mom,” Yamaguchi answered. He quickly typed a response.

_Sorry I’ll be home once practice is over._

They were rather silent as they made their way to the gym. His phone went off again and he tried to ignore it. But when more notifications came in, Tsukishima looked annoyed and said, “Answer your phone.”

Yamaguchi read the messages, which were from his mom again.

_It’s ok, just please come home soon._

_And don’t be mad at your father, this was a decision we both came to together._

_But he shouldn't have cheated on me and hurt us. But everything will be better soon honey._

Yamaguchi gulped, quickly pocketing his phone. He didn't want to respond. How was somebody meant to answer messages like those in the first place? He ignored it, that was easiest. He’d get scolded for not responding, but he didn’t care, he would just tune the lecture out if anything.

“It’s been about a week since you’ve actually been to practice,” Tsukishima said suddenly.

Yamaguchi looked up. “What? No, it hasn’t.”

“Yes, it has. Last time you were at practice was last week. And then you weren’t in school for a few days and then the last few days you’ve been skipping practice to go home.”

“I have to–“

“–help your mom, I know. But what could possibly be happening that requires this much of your attention? Can’t your dad help?”

Yamaguichi looked at the ground and frowned. “No, he can’t.”

“Why? Is he working more?”

“No…it’s not that…”

“Is everything okay? Is something wrong?” Tsukishima was getting irritated again.

Yamaguchi shook his head. “No…” He shrugged lazily. “No.”

Tsukishima stopped them a few feet before the gym. “If something is wrong, you need to tell me.” Yamaguchi looked up slowly to meet Tsukki’s eyes. “You’re being weird.”

“I’m not.”

“You haven’t been at school, you’re not answering my messages, you’re missing practice, you–“

“Okay, okay!” He gulped hard. “I’ve just been…” He looked to the side, his voice trailing off.

“ _Well_?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t want to talk about it…”

“Well when you do, you know where to find me. And don’t be stupid. If you need help, tell me.” He started walking to the gym again.

Yamaguchi trailed behind. “Sorry, Tsukki…” He looked at the ground and followed the other into the gym.

Most of the team was already there and they seemed surprised to see Yamaguchi walk in. Coach Ukai and Mr. Takeda looked at each other, and they looked like they didn’t know what to say. That was nerve wracking because they always had _something_ to say.

“Where have you been?”, Kageyama asked, breaking the silent surprise in the gym.

Yamaguchi looked over to him nervously. “Um…just…you know…”

“Is everything okay?”, Daichi asked.

“Yeah, just dealing with some stuff,” he answered vaguely.

Tsukishima looked at him with suspicion, but Yamaguchi tried not to pay attention to it. He wasn’t in the mood to have this conversation, it was too exhausting. He was only staying after school so Tsukki wouldn’t be mad at him, and so he could get away from the house for a bit. He needed it.

“Well, whatever it may be,” Mr. Takeda started, “we just hope you’re doing okay. We’ve missed you at practice.”

Ukai nodded. “Start warming up with the others and then we’ll get started.”

~

Practice ended quicker than Yamaguchi had hoped. And when he was ready to go home, he hoped that the team would want to talk to him. But the other half of him hoped they would let him leave so he could get home and help his mom out. But he didn’t really want to go home.

Lucky for him, Tsukishima wanted to talk. But Hinata ran up to him before anybody Tsukki could get his sentence out. “Yamaguchi! Where have you been? You didn’t answer my text this morning.”

Yamaguchi laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head with embarrassment. “Yeah, I’ve been a bit busy at home lately.”

The rest of the team started to gather around in a circle, all looking in Yamaguchi’s direction. “Is everything okay?”, Daichi asked. “Because you know that if something is wrong, even if it’s not volleyball related, you can come talk to us.”

Yamaguchi nodded. “Yeah, I know. It’s just…a personal issue, I guess.”

“A personal issue that made you miss school and a week of practice?”, Tsukishima mumbled.

Yamaguchi turned to him quickly. “Hey, I already apologized for that!”

Daichi put his hands up. “It’s okay, really! As long as you were here today and make an effort to come by regularly from now on, then you should be fine. Just try not to miss anymore practice for a while, got it?”

Yamaguchi looked back over to Daichi and nodded again. “You got it!”

“Well, let’s all go home for the night. Today was rough.”

The team nodded and began splitting up. Before Yamaguchi could start walking away with Tsukishima, Sugawara put a hand to Yamaguchi’s shoulder. “Remember that if you ever need anything, just ask for help, okay?”

Yamaguchi nodded. “Thank you.” He and Tsukishima watched as their upperclassman walked away then started walking in the direction of their houses together. They made it to Yamaguchi’s first and he went to the door silently.

He didn’t expect Tsukki to ask, “Will you be at practice tomorrow?” and stopped with his hand on the doorknob.

“Um…yeah.”

“That doesn't sound convincing.” Tsukishima began to walk away. “I’ll text you when I get home.”

Yamaguchi watched him walk away. “Sorry, Tsukki…” He turned to the door after his friend was gone and opened it slowly. He didn’t want to go inside, but with Tsukki gone he didn’t have an excuse not to. So he looked inside of the house and slowly stepped inside, sadly shutting the door behind himself.

He heard his mom call out to him. “Tadashi! Is that you?”

Yamaguchi tried not to flinch. “Yeah!”

She appeared in the room. “Come with me.” He nodded and took off his shoes, quickly following her into her bedroom. “I wanted to get a lot more done tonight, but I didn’t have you to help so that didn’t really happen.” Yamaguchi looked ashamed, which she caught quickly. “Don’t feel bad, I know you had practice. But maybe tomorrow you can get home earlier if you ask the coach. That way you could still go to practice, but also help me here.” That wasn’t going to happen. She shook her head. “But if you can’t leave early, then the least you could do is answer my text messages.” There it was. She crossed her hands, sticking a hip out. “Why didn’t you answer me before?”

He shrugged, looking at the ground. “Well, I didn’t really know what to say. You didn’t ask me anything so I thought it was fine.”

“Tadashi, I want to know that you’re okay.”

“I-I am. Really.”

“Good.” She straightened and clapped her hands together. “Well, we have a lot to do for tonight, so start packing those clothes on the bed into those boxes to your left.”

Yamaguchi watched his mother begin to get to work on another part of the room. He gulped. He really didn’t want to do this. Not now, he was so tired. He spoke slowly and carefully. “Well…actually, practice tired me out so I think I’m just gonna get ready for bed.”

His mother dropped what was in her hands into a box and looked at him, her eyebrows furrowed. “Bed?” She looked so stressed out, but also angry and confused at the same time. He didn’t even think that was possible, and it couldn’t have been easy to be feeling like that. But he was just so tired… “I need your help!” She gestured to the items filling up the crowded room. It was mainly his dad’s things, and she was working on packing everything away into boxes so he could move it to his new house.

Yamaguchi hated to see his mom so adamant about getting his father out of the house, but he knew why she wanted it all out. There were a few different reasons, but he knew that it was mainly because she wanted to make the house look clean and in some sort of order so it looked like a good enough place for the two to live on their own. She wanted it to look normal because maybe if the house looked normal, things would _seem_ normal. He hated thinking about that. “Tadashi, you said that you would help me when you got home!”

He tried to keep his voice steady. “I’m just…I’m tired.”

“I know you are, but so am I! I have been doing this all day!”

“Then take a break!” He walked out of the room, but heard his mother following him. He just wanted to be alone, why couldn't she understand that?

“I need your help! Without your father around, things have been hard.”

Yamaguchi stopped in the doorway to his room and leaned a hand on the doorframe. He squeezed his eyes shut as his mom rambled on.

“You are still a part of this family! You need to do your part! And that also includes answering me when I message you!” He tried to shut his eyes tighter. He knew that would be brought up again. She scoffed, frustrated. “I know that this has been rough on you and that you have been trying your best, but I need you to do more! You're not the only person getting hurt! I need you to help me out around the house! Because when we have to go to family court, they're going to ask you how it is living here, and–“

The slamming of his hand on the wood cut her off. “I don’t want to talk about this!” His voice was surprisingly loud, but it wavered.

His mother took a step towards him, the edge still in her voice. “Tadashi–“

“Please…” The break in his voice finally got it through to his mother that this was not the time. She nodded and put a hand to his back, but he walked away from the touch. “Goodnight,” he said quickly as he wiped at his eyes. He shut the door before she could respond.

He changed into his pajamas, ready to fall asleep. An incoming text grabbed his attention before he could lay down.

Tsukki :):

_I’m home. Go to bed and I’ll hopefully see you tomorrow morning. And remember to eat._

Yamaguchi sniffed and smiled slightly at the care Tsukishima showed him. He put his phone on the charger. He set his alarm clock to go off before morning practice and laid down. Sleep couldn’t come soon enough.

~

As much as he hoped to wake up and not have any recollection of his argument with his mother (if he could really call it that), that didn’t happen. Luckily, his mother didn’t bring it up so he could work on forgetting it.

Yamaguchi didn’t eat breakfast again and his mother made sure to pack him an extra snack with his food, knowing that this would happen. Before he left, his mother gave him a kiss and said, “If you can, keep your phone on you during practice. I might have to call you. But don’t text me during class, okay?” He nodded, wordless, and left quickly. When he got to practice, he was the last person to get ready. Fortunately, Tsukishima waited for him.

Yamaguchi had left his cell phone in his pocket, something Coach Ukai never liked. But if his mother did actually call him like she said she might need to, he risked another argument if he didn’t pick it. It was either getting yelled at at home for anywhere from minutes to hours, or have Ukai scold him quickly and then get a five minute lecture on phones. And if he got in trouble with his parents, they wouldn’t let him hear the end of it.

Of course, not even halfway through practice, there was a ringing from Yamaguchi’s pocket that silenced the entire gym. He froze and tried to ignore it, but most of the gym had their eyes in his direction.

“Whose phone is that?”, Ukai asked.

Yamaguchi didn’t want to raise his hand, but he did.

“Who the hell is calling you?”

Yamaguchi slowly pulled his phone from his pocket and saw the contact _Dad_. He gulped hard and looked back to his coach. “My father.” There was a pause and then he said, “I’m sorry, my mom told me that I needed my phone on me today, and–“

“It’s fine, just go answer it so we can get back to practice.”

Yamaguchi nodded. “Thank you.” He ran to the side of the court so he was out of the way and answered the call hesitantly. “H-Hello?” His voice was hushed.

_“Tadashi! Where are you?”_

“Volleyball practice.”

 _“What?”_ He sounded annoyed. _“I came all the way to see you and you tell me you’re at practice? I haven’t seen you in a week! Just because your mother and I are divorcing and you’re living with her while we figure out custody, doesn’t mean–“_

“Okay, okay!” When some of the team members looked in his direction, he lowered his head and his voice. “I can’t talk right now, okay? I have to go…”

_“Tadashi–!”_

“I’m sorry.” He hung up quickly and shut off his phone. He went up to Coach Ukai and held it out to him. “I’m very sorry for interrupting practice.”

Ukai took the phone. “Don’t be, I understand.” He nodded to the court. “Get back to practicing.”

~

Yamaguchi barely got through classes. After practice, he was able to take his phone back and, fortunately, didn’t get any kind of lecture. But Tsukishima asked him a few questions that he barely dodged. And when they got to class, Yamaguchi quickly texted his mother.

_I’m in class, please don’t text or call me. And tell dad that too._

After he sent it, he knew he should have texted his father because his mother passing on the message would result in unnecessary arguments. So he frantically sent another message.

_Never mind the last part, I’ll tell him._

And he did in a very quick text.

_Please don’t text or call me, I have classes._

And then he turned his phone off for good measure and didn’t turn it back on until cleaning time.

At lunch, Tsukishima began asking him more questions about morning practice. Yamaguchi kindly asked him to talk about anything else. “Please, I just don’t want to talk about that. How was your night?”

Tsukki rolled his eyes and Yamaguchi’s cheeks went red with embarrassment. “It’s not that I don’t trust you with…telling you what’s going on, I just…”

Tsukishima didn’t look up from his lunch. “Just what?”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.” He glanced at the other. “And eat your lunch.”

Yamaguchi looked back down at the food. “I’m not very hungry…”

“Well, you have to eat eventually.”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah…I know.” He would eat, just not now. He wasn’t in the mood.

~

During practice, there was a loud ringing from Yamaguchi’s pocket. He jolted and Ukai didn’t look very amused. He stopped what he was doing and looked at the boy. “Yamaguchi, don’t tell me that’s you again.”

Yamaguchi’s cheeks were beet red. “I’m sorry. I thought I turned it off.”

“You shouldn’t even have it on you.”

“I know, I’m sorry…” He checked who it was. “It’s my mom, I’m sorry, I have to answer it.”

“Go ahead. And after today, stop bringing your phone to practice.”

Yamaguchi nodded and ran to the side of the court. He faced the wall as he answered the call. “Mom, I can’t talk right now.”

There was loud arguing on the other line and it caught Yamaguchi off guard. He pulled the phone from his ear and grimaced. He could feel the eyes of his team looking over to him, but he tried to ignore it. After a few seconds, he slowly brought the phone back to his ear. The yelling hadn’t begun to quiet at all, and sounded as if it was getting worse. His voice shook despite his attempts to keep it steady. “Mom? Are you there?”

 _“Tadashi!”_ He flinched. _“You need to come home right now!”_

“W-What? Why?”

 _“Your father is being an_ ass _and says that he isn’t leaving until you come home!”_

His father’s voice was in the background. _“You’re damn right!”_

Yamaguchi gulped hard. “Um…I have practice right now.”

His mother spoke again. _“Please come home, Tadashi. I need your help.”_

“Aren’t you two adults? Can’t you handle it?” He tried to be polite, but his patience was running thin. “Please? You’re gonna get me in trouble. You _already_ got me in trouble.”

 _“Tadashi, get home!”_ , his father yelled.

Yamaguchi felt his heart rate quickening from the growing anxiety in his stomach. “T-Tell him I can’t. Bye.”

_“Tadashi–!”_

Yamaguchi hung up and gulped again. When he turned around, the entire gym was looking at him. “What?”, he asked dumbly.

“What the hell was that?”, Coach Ukai asked. “It sounded serious.”

“It’s nothing. My parents are just being weird again.”

“ _Weird_?”, Tsukishima said.

“Is dumb a better word?”

“Are you kidding me?”

“We could hear them screaming from here,” Nishinoya said. Sugawara elbowed him.

Yamaguchi gulped, his shoulders tensing. “I really don’t want to talk about it.” He put his phone in his pocket. “Please, it’s personal.”

“Then maybe you should be with your parents,” Ukai suggested.

His eyes widened. “No!”

Everybody jolted.

He took in a breath. “Sorry.” He gulped nervously. “I don’t want to leave practice again, I can’t.”

“Yamaguchi–“

“I can’t miss anymore practice!”

Ukai waited to respond. “Okay, then tell your parents that so they don’t worry about you.”

Yamaguchi nodded and took out his phone, quickly walking outside of the gym. He blinked back his tears of embarrassment as he readied his mother’s contact to text her.

Tsukishima began to follow him, but Daichi grabbed his arm. “Maybe give him some space. He looked like he could use it.”

“No.”

Daichi blinked, taking his arm away. “What?”

“No. He has had nothing _but_ space. I don’t even know what’s going on!”

“He doesn’t want to talk about it, though,” Sugawara said softly. “I think he just needs to be alone for a little bit.”

“Well if that’s what you think, cool, but I know Yamaguchi better than you.”

Kageyama looked annoyed. “Your point?”

“I’m going to go see if he’s okay.” He refrained from commenting on something regarding Kageyama’s attitude. “Give me a minute.” Then he was outside of the gym, looking for his friend.

Yamaguchi was leaning against a wall far from the gym entrance. He was staring down at his phone. His text to his mother read,

_I’m staying at practice, I cannot leave. I’m sorry._

After reading it over a few times, he felt his anger boil inside of himself. He quickly began typing out another message to send afterwards, his brows knitted in anger.

_And another thing: you knew that I would have to go to practice today so why would you call me in the middle of a screaming match with dad to get me to come home? That’s embarrassing and it isn’t fair to me or my team. I’m trying my best to help you, but you can’t expect me to just drop everything, including my friends, just to help you figure out your_

He stopped typing when he heard, “Don’t send an angry text or you’ll regret it later.”

Yamaguchi turned around and looked at Tsukishima, who was leaning on the wall a few feet back. He looked back down at his phone and deleted the text before he could finish it. “Sorry, Tsukki.” He put his phone in his pocket.

“Why are you apologizing?”

Yamaguchi gulped and stared at the ground, digging his foot into the dirt nervously. “I don’t know.”

The two stood quietly and Tsukishima never took his eyes away from Yamaguchi. When he spoke, the latter looked up surprised. “What’s going on with you?”

Yamaguchi shrugged and started to look away again. “I don’t want to–“

“I know that you don’t want to talk about it, but I need to know if you’re okay.”

He tried to meet his friend’s eyes. “I am.”

“You’re not.”

“But I _am_ , Tsukki.”

“Okay, then why have you been falling asleep in class so much? And why aren’t you eating? And why did you miss so much school and practice? It doesn’t make sense. If you’re _really_ okay, then none of that would have happened. Something is going on and I want to know what it is.”

“Why?”

Tsukishima looked mad at this question. He pushed himself off of the wall and his stare turned into a glare. “Are you _kidding_ me?” Yamaguchi flinched. “I’m your friend! I’m worried about you! Now tell me what is going on with you before I go to your house and find out through your parents!”

Yamaguchi felt the panic in him rise like it’d done when he had answered the phone in the gym before. It stopped when it was behind his eyes and began to manifest into tears. But he did his best to hold them in. He _screamed_ at himself to keep himself together and _begged_ to not fall apart right now. It was just so hard. He had spent so much of his energy trying to be okay that he didn’t have anymore. He sniffed loudly and saw Tsuksihima’s entire demeanor change before his tears clouded his vision.

Quickly, Tsukishima closed the space between them and Yamaguchi’s hands clung onto the other’s forearms for support when his knees began to shake. He could hear Tsukki talking, but couldn’t figure out what the words meant. Everything sounded so jumbled together. And nothing was processing right. When he tried to talk at first, he whimpered helplessly.

He knew Tsukishima was asking him questions, and assumed he was asking why Yamaguchi was crying and what was going on. But even if Yamaguchi could comprehend his surroundings, he wasn’t able to talk in order to answer the other. When he opened his mouth for his second attempt to talk, nothing came out except for loud and ugly sobs.

Tsukishima didn’t know what was happening. Everything escalated so quickly, making it hard to keep up with. He was never the best person to go to when upset. And now Yamaguchi could barely stand on his own, and couldn’t talk. He didn’t know what to do, it was terrifying. He, luckily, found his own voice after what felt like forever. “Tadashi?”, he asked. “What is it?”

Yamaguchi’s head was aimed at the ground and he tried not to dig his nails into Tsukishima’s arms. Although his sobs had quieted for the most part, he was still too overwhelmed to say anything.

“C’mon, talk to me.”

Yamaguchi’s voice was barely audible. “I don’t want to.”

Tsukishima nodded, his chest becoming heavier when he heard how helpless Yamaguchi sounded. “That’s fine.” He looked at the ground under their shoes and lowered them to it carefully. Yamaguchi kept his hands on Tsukki’s arms with his head down, trying to breathe regularly, and the two didn’t move for a few minutes.

When he was able to, Yamaguchi pulled away, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “Sorry, Tsukki.” He sniffed loudly and kept his eyes on the ground. “I don’t know what happened.”

“Neither do I.”

Yamaguchi looked up. “I didn’t mean to–“

“I don’t care.”

He looked nervous. “What?”

“I don’t care that you got upset, but I want to know what caused it.” Yamaguchi opened his mouth, but Tsukishima said, “Don’t tell me that you don’t want to talk about it.”

Yamaguchi gulped hard, his eyes going to his hands, which were fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. He didn’t want to say it, he didn’t even want to _think_ it.

“Tadashi?”

Hearing his first name made his head pop up. His mouth was opened slightly. He adjusted his position on the ground and prepared himself to talk. Without thinking, he just started to speak. “My parents are getting a divorce.”

Hearing nothing from Tsukishima, he knew that he was surprised and didn’t know what to say in return. Instead of letting him think, Yamaguchi kept going. “My dad cheated on my mom and I guess that was the final straw. They were having problems before and fought a lot, but I didn’t think it would get to this point. And now there’s a custody battle soon…And my mom has been trying to get his stuff out of the house, which requires my attention apparently, which is why I’ve had to miss practice and school so much. She just wants his stuff gone. And I’m sorry I haven’t called you or told you anything about this.” His voice began to waver. “I’m sorry, I just don’t want them to split up and they just keep yelling at each other whenever they’re even _near_ the other.” His eyes watered again and he looked up at Tsukki. “I’m just scared.”

Tsukishima, at first, had a surprised look across his face, which was kind of scary. He didn't really get surprised easily. After he was able to process what he was just told, he nodded. “I can see that.”

“I don’t expect you to know what to do…”

“I don’t.”

Yamaguchi looked in the direction of the gym entrance. “Can we just go back to practice?”

Tsukishima blinked, the surprise visible again, but now mixed with confusion. “What?”

“I don’t want to worry the team.”

“You already are.”

He blinked a few times and met Tsukishima’s eyes. “Well…I just…” He sighed. “I don’t know.”

“We’ll go back, but only if you promise me that you’ll start talking to me more.”

Yamaguchi nodded. “Yeah, I will.”

“Will you?”

He nodded again. “I will. I probably should have talked to you sooner, anyway…”

“Don’t blame yourself, but you should have.” He got to his feet and held out his hands to Yamaguchi. “Come on.”

Yamaguchi grabbed the other’s hands and was pulled up swiftly. He smiled weakly and squeezed Tsukishima’s hands as he said, “Thanks, Tsukki.” Tsukki nodded, slowly pulling his hands out of Yamaguchi’s.

They went back into the gym, where the team hadn’t stopped practicing serving and receiving. Mr. Takeda went up to the two and pulled them to the side of the court. “Are you two okay? You were out there for a bit.”

Yamaguchi shrugged. “We’re okay.” Tsukishima didn’t look convinced.

Mr. Takeda nodded. “Alright. Yamaguchi, take it easy for the rest of practice, okay?”

He nodded. Practice continued without any questions from anyone, to Yamaguchi’s relief. And after, Tsukishima walked him home. And when he got there, he didn’t even look at his parents, he just went to his bedroom after putting his leftover lunch away. His father knocked on his door to talk to him, but Yamaguchi didn’t let him in. So his father left angrily with whatever belongings were packed, and his mother continued packing more things away.

~

The next morning was similar to how the night had gone. Yamaguchi didn’t say much, was exhausted, didn’t eat, and left the house quickly. He was humiliated at practice yesterday when his parents were fighting and the team heard, and it made him contemplate going. But he knew that if he missed anymore, he risked getting kicked off of the team, and that was the last thing he needed right now. So he went, and this morning he was earlier than expected. Sugawara and Daichi had just finished getting ready, while Kageyama and Hinata were racing each other to the gym.

Yamaguchi texted Tsukishima while in the locker room.

_I got to practice early so you don’t have to wait for me. Sorry for leaving you by yourself tho :(((_

He got a reply quicker than expected.

_It’s fine :( </3 _

Yamaguchi giggled quietly to himself.

_:P don’t be a baby just get to practice :))_

_Says the guy who missed days of it._

_:O ur so MEAN_

_lol ik_

_Ik u know ily :D_

_Shut up_

_Sorry Tsukki :P_

He felt a lot happier from the small conversation. It made his morning a lot better. When he didn’t get another message in response, he stuffed his phone in the bottom of his bag, got changed and headed back to the gym. 

Mr. Takeda and Coach Ukai saw him, and Mr. Takeda called him over quickly. Yamaguchi was scared to hear what they had to say, but went over anyway. “Good morning,” he said nervously.

Mr. Takeda smiled at him. “Morning.”

He couldn’t help but ask, “Am I in trouble for yesterday? Because I promise that my phone is–“

Ukai cut him off. “No, you’re not in trouble.”

“We’re just concerned about you,” Takeda said. “We just want to make sure you’re doing alright, especially after that phone call yesterday.”

Yamaguchi looked behind him to make sure the gym was empty. When he saw that the third-years were standing far enough away and nobody else was around, he turned back to the adults. “Okay, um…there… _has_ been something going on…”

Takeda nodded. “Whatever it is, you can tell us.”

He licked his lips and looked at the ground. “My parents are divorcing.”

The two looked stunned. Takeda put a hand out in sympathy. “Oh, Yamaguchi–“

“That’s not it. I knew that it was only a matter of time, as horrible as that sounds…But they haven’t been getting along like they used to for some time now…” He gulped. “My dad got caught cheating, and my parents had this huge fight, decided they were over, and that was it. Everything is being finalized now.”

Ukai looked confused. “Then…what’s…?”

Yamaguchi didn’t look up and felt Takeda’s hand slip away from his arm. “We have to go to family court really soon…to figure out who I’m going to live with.” He could feel himself getting worked up. “Um…my mom has been making me help with getting all of my dad’s stuff out of the house, too, so he can move it into his new one…And that’s why I missed so much practice. She’d keep me up late and then I’d be too tired in the morning…and then she would tell me I _had_ to go home to help her more.” He looked up. “I’m really sorry about–“

“Don’t be.”

“I just don’t like talking about it…”

“That’s completely understandable,” Takeda reassured. “If you’re uncomfortable talking about it, that’s okay. But we’re happy that you felt comfortable enough to tell us.”

“It’s just that…” He paused, trying to calm himself down, but when he started again his voice was speeding through words frantically. “I know that if they split up, they’ll be happier, but I don’t want them to because then the custody battle has to happen and–“

“Okay okay,” Ukai said calmly, “catch your breath.”

Yamaguchi took in a long breath and listened to the adults talk.

“It’s scary, I know, but you have all of us to help you through it.” Yamaguchi opened his mouth to add something, but Ukai kept talking. “You’re gonna be okay because at the end of the day, no matter what, you will still have us. And you will also still have both of your parents.”

“But–“

“ _Yamaguchi_.” Ukai’s stare was hard. “It will be okay. Don’t psych yourself out, it will only make you feel worse.”

His voice came out louder than he intended. “If my dad wins, then I have to leave Karasuno!” He’d never said that out loud before. He meant to tell Tsukki that yesterday, but didn’t. And, plus, thinking about it was daunting. He couldn’t imagine leaving Karasuno. His eyes were watering and his bottom lip quivered in fear.

Takeda blinked a few times and didn’t take his eyes away from his student. Ukai licked his lips nervously, trying to process what was just said, and then noticed the gym, now filled with most of the team, staring in their direction. “Teach, stay with Yamaguchi and help him out, I’m gonna talk to them.” He walked away, quickly gathering the team, most of which were confused regarding the context to the conversation. Then again, they already heard Yamaguchi so it didn’t matter to a certain extent.

As Takeda pulled Yamaguchi to the side, the latter caught a glimpse of the team. Tsukishima was looking over in their direction, his gaze terrified, something he hadn’t seen since they were children.

Takeda leaned over to Yachi and Kiyoko. Yachi was clutching the other girl’s arm with worry. “Girls, why don’t you join the boys over there?”

Kiyoko nodded and guided Yachi away.

Takeda turned Yamaguchi’s back to the team so he could focus on their conversation. The teacher could see tears beginning to fall and his eyebrows furrowed at the sight. “Yamaguchi, please look at me.”

Yamaguchi shook his head, wiping his eyes sloppily. “I don’t want to talk about it.” His voice was small.

“I know you don’t. But you have to face it, you cannot hide from it.”

He knew that, but he could never convince himself to do so.

~

“Can we talk about this morning now?”

Yamaguchi looked over to Tsukishima in surprise, but lowered his head. “There’s nothing to really talk about.” He knew that wasn’t true, but he needed a new excuse to not talk about. The “I don’t want to” one wasn’t working as much, and it wouldn’t now that he promised to talk to Tsukki more.

Their walk to afternoon practice had been relatively quiet. And during the day, although they still ate lunch together, Yamaguchi was silent, which wasn’t like him. He was so busy stuck in his thoughts and felt so embarrassed and angry. And full of shame.

“Yes, there is. You didn’t tell me that there was a custody battle going on.”

He shrugged helplessly. “I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t even want to make that much of a scene this morning.”

“That wasn’t a scene, Yamaguchi.” When there was no response, he added, “And I think that you needed to talk about it to deal with it.”

“I…” He exhaled. “I didn’t want to talk about it with the entire team. Well… _anyone_ on the team, to be honest. I just didn’t want them to know.”

“Even me?”

Yamaguchi looked up hurriedly, becoming slightly dizzy from the sudden movement. “Well, I–“ His phone ringing cut him off and stopped Tsukishima from saying anything else. Tsukishima rolled his eyes as Yamaguchi sighed and grabbed his phone from his backpack. He almost didn’t answer it after seeing it was his mother trying calling, but did anyway. “Hello?”

_“Tadashi, are you coming home?”_

“No, I have practice. I thought you knew this. I told you that I can’t miss anymore.”

 _“Well your father is here, getting more of his things, and he wants to see you because you didn’t talk to him yesterday. Lord knows why…”_ There was yelling in the back–it was his father–but they both ignored it. _“And you can worry about practice after you help me at home. Because once the custody battle is done with, you can go to practice without any more interruptions.”_

“Just…” How was he supposed to answer that? “I’ll be home after practice. Bye.” He hung up before his mother could start saying anything else.

Then there was an incoming message from his father.

_Your mother is unbelievably rude, I can’t believe she would say that to you. You know that I will do whatever I can to make you comfortable._

And then there were more coming in from him.

_I wouldn’t keep you from practice. I know that it seems like I might be doing that now, but only because I miss you so much._

_And when you come to live with me, we’ll find a much better volleyball team for you to be a part of!_

_Better than the “spineless crows” or whatever people call your current team._

_How’s that sound?_

Then his mother was sending him messages.

_Don’t listen to your father, I’m just trying to clear out his crap so we don’t have to be reminded of his sorry ass!_

_I love you, I would never keep you from your team, but right now things are tough. You know that._

Yamaguchi couldn’t keep up with the messages and shut his phone off without answering either of his parents. He put his phone into his bag again, not caring where it landed or if it was buried at the bottom. “I’m sorry, were you going to say something?”, he asked Tsukishima.

Tsukishima tried to be nice. “Look, talk about this with who you want, just don’t be dumb, Yamaguchi.”

He gave a small nod. “Sorry, Tsukki…” It was barely audible. The rest of their walk was in silence.

~

Practice started out as fine as it could. It started with Ukai and Takeda giving the team a talk about what was going on. Yamaguchi didn’t remember most of it because he was trying to keep himself standing upright. He didn’t know what was going on, but all of the sudden, after he looked up at Tsukki, he couldn’t shake the feeling he had. He was so dizzy and wanted to say something, but he had already created so much panic within the team…He’d be fine.

When Ukai looked at Yamaguchi and wasn’t getting a response, Tsukishima hit his arm, snapping him out of his thoughts. Yamaguchi looked around. “Hm?”

“Coach asked you something,” Tsukki said.

Yamaguchi met Ukai’s eyes hesitantly. “Sorry, I didn’t hear.”

“Did you want to say anything else about what’s going on?”, Ukai asked.

Yamaguchi shook his head. “No, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Just know that we’re here for you.”

He nodded. “Thank you.” He gulped, trying to push away the new wave of nausea coming over him.

Ukai clapped his hands together. It made Yamaguchi’s head pound more. “Let’s get practice started. And, Yamaguchi, if you need anything then tell me. Please.”

He nodded again, which wasn’t a smart idea because the pounding intensified. “I will.”

“Good.”

The team began getting ready for practice and finished setting the gym up with whatever they needed. A few team members noticed Yamaguchi moving slower than usual, but assumed it was because of what was going on with his parents.

Hinata mentioned it to Kageyama quickly, but was told that it wasn't his business, and should wait for Yamaguchi to approach him. Nishinoya hit Yamaguchi’s back, telling him to go at his own pace, and Asahi nervously told Nishinoya to be careful with the hitting, especially seeing how Yamaguchi stumbled so clumsily from it. Yachi asked Kiyoko a few questions, wondering if Yamaguchi was really okay or if he was just trying to be strong, and the upperclassman answered them to the best of her ability. Then they brought it to Mr. Takeda’s attention and he started keeping an even closer eye on the boy in question. Tsukishima quietly watched Daichi and Sugawara share a few whispers then turn to Yamaguchi, telling him that he was doing great. The rest of the team didn’t say much about it to give him space.

Then it was time to practice serving. Yamaguchi tried to prepare himself while waiting for his turn, but couldn't seem to. He was up after Tsukishima and would be the last person to serve. He hated the lineup formation because then more people would be watching him. He already had a hard enough time getting rid of his nerves during games, but now, with the added stress on him from home and the dizzy feeling that was _still_ there, he knew everything was stacked up against him. He knew that he could ask to sit out, but he didn’t want to. He wanted to keep playing and to focus on getting the ball on the other side of the net and only that. Not his parents, not their divorce, not their constant fighting, not the custody battle, not his lack of energy–none of it.

Tsukishima saw the color in Yamaguchi’s face drain more, and went to say something to somebody near him, but Yamaguchi was already throwing the ball up in the air. And then the ball was hitting the ground, Yamaguchi going down with it.

The gym was deathly silent. Tsukishima felt his heart in his throat and was the first person, after Ukai, to get to Yamaguchi’s side. Mr. Takeda was pushing the rest of the team closer to Kiyoko and Yachi in order to give the three space. As Hinata and Kiyoko were calming down Yachi, who was close to tears, Daichi was telling Takeda that he could take Yamaguchi to the nurse.

Tsukishima was laying Yamaguchi’s head on his lap to support him and pushed his hair away from his face.

Ukai was hard to read. His expression was a mix of shock, and there was confusion mixed in, and fear, and… so much more. “What the hell happened?”

“Idiot,” Tsukishima mumbled. He looked up at Ukai, his voice surprisingly calm. “He didn’t eat lunch today…and he probably didn’t have breakfast either because he hasn’t been eating.” He gulped, looking back down. “And he’s so stressed out…”

“Are his parents making this harder on him?”

Tsukishima nodded. “Definitely. His mother has been trying to get him to miss practice and fights him on it. She called him before we started, and then both of his parents just kept sending him texts.”

Ukai sighed heavily. “This poor kid…” He looked over at the team, most of which was asking Takeda questions. “Daichi! Asahi!”, he boomed, silencing everyone. When Ukai had their full attention, he lowered his voice. “Bring him to the nurse.” He turned to Tsukishima. “Go with them and call his parents.”

Tsukishima almost looked offended. “Seriously?”

“We have to.”

Daichi and Asahi slowly approached Yamaguchi on the ground. Tsukishima held his head gently as Asahi scooped him into his arms anxiously. As he stood, Yamaguchi’s head fell against his upperclassman’s arm. As he and Daichi walked out together towards the infirmary, Tsukishima went to the club room to grab his phone. Luckily, he had the Yamaguchis’ phone numbers saved from middle school in case of emergencies.

Then he ran to the nurse as fast as he could, and he didn’t stop until he was with Yamaguchi. Asahi and Daichi were nervously staring at the entrance while waiting, but immediately guided Tsukishima to their teammate upon seeing him. The nurse gave the boys space, and Tsukishima took out his phone to the surprise of his upperclassmen. Daichi spoke. “What are you–?”

“Calling his parents like coach said to.”

“Don’t say anything rash,” Asahi warned.

“I won’t.” _Maybe._ He opened Ms. Yamaguchi’s contact and she answered quickly to his surprise.

_“Hello? Kei? Is everything all right?”_

“No.”

_“What happened? Is Tadashi okay?”_

“No, he passed out at practice. We need you to come to the school now. And don’t fight with his father, please.” Tsukishima hung up and put his phone in his pocket after silencing it. He sat besides Yamaguchi on the edge of the bed he was resting on.

Daichi and Asahi looked at each other then Daichi said, “We’ll go back to the gym to tell the team he’s okay. And so you two can be alone.”

Tsukishima didn’t respond with words, just a nod. The two left the room, closing the curtain then leaving the infirmary. Tsukki didn’t move from the bed the entire time he waited for Yamaguchi’s parents to show up, which wasn’t long. Soon enough, his mother was running in, his father not far behind. He could hear frantic yelling and Tsukishima got up from the bed, opening the curtain covering Yamaguchi’s “room.”

They silenced fast and Ms. Yamaguchi ran to her son. Mr. Yamaguchi followed, relief washing over him to see Tadashi resting. “Thank you so much for helping, Kei!”, Ms. Yamaguchi said gratefully. She walked up to him and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, honey!” Tsukishima wormed his way out of the grasp and stood in front of Yamaguchi. Ms. Yamaguchi looked up at him with confusion. “Could you please move out of the way?”

When he didn’t, Mr. Yamaguchi started stepping closer to Tsukishima. “Kei, come on, we want to see him.”

“No,” Tsukki said curtly, crossing his arms.

“No? This is our son.”

“Really? _Really_?”

The pair took a few steps back and looked surprised.

“He was terrified! He _is_ terrified! He hasn’t been eating, he’s been scared to look at his phone, and he barely told anybody about this!”

“ _This_?”, Mr. Yamaguchi asked.

“Your divorce.” They looked at each other then back to Tsukishima. “Where were you before he was hurt? Fighting and screaming at each other? Telling him why it would be better to live with you over the other? Forcing him away from his team? That’s not parenting! He’s been acting more like an adult than both of you, but that’s not his job! It’s _yours_! You two were supposed to reassure him and tell him that everything will be okay! Not to create more fear!”

“Kei, this is _extremely_ inappropriate.”

“I don’t care! I’m usually not disrespectful to adults, I know how to behave. But I can’t show you two respect after disrespecting Tadashi like you did! After hearing him say how scared he was I decided that manners don’t really matter right now. I apologize for being so rude, but you needed to hear it.”

Yamaguchi’s parents looked at each other, saddened by Tsukishima’s small speech. But knew it was true. Their behaviors had been nothing short of horrendous over the course of their divorce.

Tsukishima opened his mouth again, but a hand was gripping at the back of his shirt. He jolted and turned around quickly, kneeling beside the bed to see Yamaguchi better.

“Hi…” His voice was hoarse. “You’re so loud…”

Tsukishima pushed up his glasses, slightly embarrassed. “Sorry.”

Tsukishima didn’t see Yamaguchi’s parents leave, but he heard the curtain shut. Yamaguchi didn’t register that his parents had even been in the room to begin with.

“Did I really pass out in front of the team?”

Tsukishima nodded. “Yeah.” He moved his hand to his hair, brushing it away gently. “How’s your head?”

“Hurts.” He liked the touch on his head. He shut his eyes happily, but they opened shortly after. He looked down at Tsukishima’s free hand and reached for it weakly. Tsukishima felt Yamaguchi’s fingers poke at him and looked down, taking his other hand away from his head in surprise.

Yamaguchi’s smile went away and changed into a look of concern. “Hey–“ Tsukishimia grabbed onto his friend’s hand tightly. Yamaguchi’s smile came back. “You’re too good to me…”, he mumbled contently.

“Guess I am.”

“I lo–“ He stopped himself. That’s not what he wanted to say. “Thank you.”

Tsukishima smiled smally. “Whatever.”

The curtain opened slowly behind him and Mr. Takeda’s head appeared in the small opening. Tsukishima turned his head. “Is he doing okay?”, Takeda asked quietly. Tsukishima nodded. “Does he want visitors?”

Tsukishima looked at Yamaguchi, who nodded happily. “Mhm.”

Tsukki looked back at Takeda and nodded again.

Takeda beamed and his head went away, then the curtain was thrown open and the team quickly crowded around the two boys. There were so many questions and Yamaguchi couldn’t keep up with all of them. Hinata and Nishinoya were the loudest, trying to push to the front to be seen over their taller teammates.

Ukai and Daichi managed to silence the loud team without yelling, which was not as easy as they thought it’d be. Sugawara asked the first question that Yamaguchi could understand in the now quiet room. “How do you feel?”

“Ugh,” Yamaguchi groaned. “My head hurts.” He looked around. “But I’m happy all of you are here.” He smiled.

“Are you feeling any better?”, Asahi asked.

Yamaguchi nodded and Sugawara said, “We're happy to hear that,” with a sweet smile.

“And we couldn’t just _not_ see you,” Hinata grinned.

Yamaguchi’s smile dipped slightly, catching the attention of everybody. “I’m sorry I caused everybody so much worry…I didn’t mean to.”

“Don’t be sorry!”

“We’re not mad at you,” Tanaka said. “How could we be?”

“Don’t beat yourself up,” Takeda reassured. “We know you didn’t mean any harm.”

Daichi nodded. “And we’re gonna be with you until things get better.”

“Just take some time to rest and take it easy,” Ukai instructed. “We just want you to be okay.”

Tsukishima gripped Yamaguchi’s hand and their eyes met. Yamaguchi’s eyes seemed to glisten almost. It was nice to look at. Yamaguchi gripped Tsukishima’s hand back and shot him a smile. He was a good friend. And he considered himself very lucky that Tsukki hadn’t just left him through everything. He easily could have because of how frustrating it must have been to not know anything at first. But he stayed anyway.

Yamaguchi could feel heaviness in his eyes, but it didn’t panic him for the first time in awhile. He took his hand from Tsukki’s, and wrapped his arms around the other’s neck to the surprise of everybody in the room. Tsukishima almost pushed away out of embarrassment, but didn’t when he felt how tight Yamaguchi held him. After a few seconds, and this wasn’t very surprising, the team started gathering closer to them, joining the hug.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!!! Thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate!!  
> So I finally wrote something not Hetalia related. I’m sorry that it’s super long, sometimes I just write and can’t stop! I did have a different ending planned, but figured maybe I should leave it on a more positive note because I feel like this story has been kind of heavy. Plus, the way I ended it shaved off a few pages, hah. But if anybody is interested maybe I could write the alternate ending and publish it as its own chapter?? Idk, it depends on what readers want.  
> Anyways!! Thank you to those who read and enjoyed! I recently got into Haikyuu and I usually can’t find any one-shots about Yamaguchi, who is one of my favorites. And I say one-shots because I haven’t had much time to sit and read stories that are more than two or three chapters. Plus, I had this idea randomly and knew that I HAD to write it!!!  
> One more thing! I apologize if anything is not accurate, whether that be about the divorce aspect in this story or Japanese culture; I only have a basic understanding of divorce and I live in America so I am not too exposed to Japanese culture, but I did my best with writing whatever I could in!  
> And the title might change because I wasn’t sure what else to name this. And also (I keep thinking of things to say I’M SORRY I TALK/WRITE A LOT), sorry if it seems like I dodged the divorce and family court thing all together. The original ending was supposed to address it and give a proper ending/conclusion to that, but I thought it strayed away from Karasuno and Haikyuu in general a little too much, and I was already pushing that with this story to begin with. But again, if anybody wants to know the original ending, I’d be happy to write a small chapter for it. :)) Anyway, I think that’s finally it!! T-T sorry for writing so much omg, but thank you if you read everything haha


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